Nicholas Thurkettle

Toy Story 3
Director: Lee Unkrich
Writers: story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich, screenplay by Michael Arndt
Producer: Darla K. Anderson
Featuring the vocal talents of: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, John Morris, Jodi Benson, Emily Hahn, Laurie Metcalf, Blake Clark, Teddy Newton, Timothy Dalton

I really do hope this is the last one. Toy Story 3 has a scene where young Andy (voiced by John Morris) is emptying his childhood bedroom, preparing to leave for college, and his mother sees the bare floor and walls and is overcome with emotion. And we remember right in that instant that this very bedroom, back in 1995, is where we as moviegoers first met Woody the cowboy (Tom Hanks), Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), and all their joyfully neurotic toy friends; but also where we first met the animation company Pixar, and the whole concept of a fully-digital animated film.

For a long time, Toy Story was the only world Pixar re-visited, the only movie in its acclaimed roster to get a sequel. That is about to change, with the likes of Cars and Monsters, Inc. now set for the franchise treatment. Andy’s departure as a grown-up young man could truly mark the end of the first generation of Pixar – no longer a rambunctious start-up but the industry’s dominant creative and financial institution.

Their latest film finds them re-trenching on safe ground after more daring spectacles like WALL*E and Up. For much of its running time it is charming, it is imaginative, and it is beautifully rendered by the artists, who take full advantage of the resources purchased by 15 years’ success without violating the aesthetics established by the episodes made in more primitive times. We meet new toys, and enjoy some fast-paced laughs and thrills. But it feels mostly like a succession of gags and adventures featuring characters we already love rather than anything urgent or fresh. It’s only in its ending that Toy Story 3 becomes a very good story, and I will talk more about that in a moment.
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Originally published 11/17/04

The Incredibles
Director: Brad Bird
Writer: Brad Bird
Producer: John Walker
Featuring the voices of: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Jason Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Peña, Spencer Fox, Sarah Vowell

Some movies move fast because they’re afraid that if they slow down, they’ll die. We sense their desperation, and that they have nothing to offer. Then there are movies like The Incredibles, which move fast because they are having too much fun to hang around, and burst with enthusiasm and joy in every frame.

Zippy, bright, and endlessly inventive, The Incredibles carries on the winning streak of the animation geniuses at Pixar. Though it doesn’t have the heartstring-tugging depth of their best work like Finding Nemo or Toy Story 2, this sort of like saying Rubber Soul isn’t the best Beatles’ album. Its mere existence places it head-and-shoulders above most of the competition.
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